Frankenmuth firefighters get beam for 9/11 memorial

FRANKENMUTH, Mich. (AP) — A pair of Saginaw-area firefighters traveled to New York this week to retrieve a piece of the World Trade Center that will be used to construct a Sept. 11 memorial in front of the fire station back home.

Eric MacKinnon and Ethan Crichton drove a Frankenmuth public works truck to John F. Kennedy International Airport to get a 930-pound, 10-foot piece of World Trade Center steel stored in a hangar. The piece will be used to construct a memorial in front of the Frankenmuth Fire Station.

"It's more or less breathtaking," MacKinnon told The Saginaw News after picking up the twisted I-beam. "We're taking a part of history home."

Frankenmuth fire Chief John Deterding said MacKinnon brought the idea to his attention two years ago, and MacKinnon and Crichton navigated the paperwork to make it a reality.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey chooses where the pieces will go, said Port Authority spokeswoman Sara Joren.

"We've received over 2,000 requests and distributed over 900 artifacts at this point," she said.

Deterding said the memorial at the fire station should be ready by this year's 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

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